Panic gripped residents and students as the body of a man was discovered beheaded on Tuesday at the Permanent Site of the University of Jos, Plateau State.
It was gathered that the victim’s severed head was taken away by the assailant(s).
Several students and staff members of the university, including the institution’s Chief Security Officer, Mr Agama Tangni, confirmed the incident to PUNCH Online in Jos on Tuesday.
According to the Chief Security Officer, the deceased was neither a student nor a staff member of the university.
“I can confirm to you that somebody was beheaded here. He is not a student, nor is he a staff member of the university,” Tangni said.
According to him, the identity of the deceased is known because of his regular presence at the location.
“But the identity of the deceased is known because the particular spot where he was beheaded is where he used to come for farming. He usually comes there very early in the morning,” he said.
Tangni said preliminary indications pointed to a targeted attack. “I don’t know whether the assailants have been monitoring him, but from the look of things, the attackers targeted him, beheaded him and went away with his severed head,” he stated.
He added that the deceased’s relatives had been notified and that the body had been deposited at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital.
“The relations of the deceased are aware, and his corpse has been taken to the Bingham University Teaching Hospital,” Tangni said.
The CSO said the university management had been briefed on the development and would communicate further with the university community.
“The University of Jos is already aware of the unfortunate incident, and they are going to send a memo or pass information to all the platforms of the institution,” he said.
The Plateau State Police Command had yet to issue an official statement on the incident as of the time of filing this report.
All efforts by First Daily correspondent to reach the command’s spokesperson, Alabo Alfred, proved abortive.
Meanwhile, security has been heightened around the university’s permanent site as investigations continue.